Three prominent news organizations—CNN, MSNOW, and Politico—have intensified their legal fight against the White House, arguing that it has continued to violate a judge’s orders by not allowing their reporters access to cover President Donald Trump in the Oval Office and on Air Force One. The outlets allege that this exclusion infringes upon their free speech rights and constitutes retaliatory measures from the president against unwelcome coverage.
In a legal filing submitted on Wednesday, the news organizations claimed that despite a ruling from U.S. District Judge Timothy Kelly requiring the White House to permit their reporters to return to the press pool, the administration has failed to comply. Theodore J. Boutrous Jr., the attorney representing the outlets, emphasized that the White House’s actions deprive the public of critical information about the government.
The lawsuit seeks to make the judge’s previous orders permanent. The core issue at stake involves whether the president is permitted to penalize news outlets based on the content of their reporting. The news organizations assert that such actions would be a violation of the First Amendment’s protections against viewpoint discrimination.
In a previous ruling, Judge Kelly found that the administration likely violated the news outlets’ Fifth Amendment rights to due process and sided with their argument that Trump’s ban on their access also breached their First Amendment rights. Kelly characterized the administration’s rationale—that the ban was necessary for policy reasons— as an unlawful form of viewpoint discrimination, stating, “Simply put, that is unlawful viewpoint discrimination.”
Trump has maintained that he is not obligated to grant access to certain news outlets whose coverage he finds unfavorable. As of Thursday morning, the White House had not publicly responded to the amended lawsuit.
The news organizations argued in their filing that any news outlet could face similar retaliation for coverage deemed insufficiently favorable by the president. They stressed the importance of maintaining a transparent press that serves the public’s right to information.
This complaint comes shortly after Judge Kelly ruled that the outlets would likely succeed in their case against the Trump administration, highlighting the ongoing tension between the president and the media. The legal battle continues to unfold as the outlets seek a solution that would allow their reporters to have equal access to the president and his communications with the press.
